Vance today announced the sentencing of a man who sexually assaulted a woman during a robbery in her East Village apartment in 2008. During the attack, the woman bit her attacker, 39-year-old Greg Poirier, leaving traces of his blood in the apartment.

The DNA was recovered by investigators and entered into the state's DNA databank, but didn't match any DNA profiles on file. So, the case remained unsolved -- until Poirier struck again, that is.

Poirier was convicted in 2009 of a different sexually motivated burglary, which landed his DNA in the state's database.

Vance's Cold Case Unit has been systematically reviewing about 3,000
unsolved crimes since he took office in 2010. A recent review of the
2008 sexual assault led investigators back to the DNA database -- where
Poirier's DNA is now on file -- which led to his conviction. He was
sentenced today to 25 years in prison.

In announcing Poirier's
sentencing, Vance touted the recently enacted "All Crimes DNA" law,
which went into effect last week, and gives law enforcement the
authority to collect the DNA of anyone convicted of any crime (with the
exception of first-time convictions for possession of small amounts of
marijuana).

Previously, only convicted felons had to turn their DNA over to the government.

"Just days after the All Crimes DNA law went into effect, this sentence
serves as a reminder of the importance of the DNA databank in bringing
closure to victims of unsolved crimes," Vance says.
"The law, which requires DNA samples from virtually every convicted
criminal, further expands the DNA databank, giving my Office the tools
it needs to prosecute criminals and exonerate the innocent."